Hi guys i hope someone can help me? I have a 1989 v12 xjs the previous owner has cut the wires from the horn (for resons best known to themselves!!) i have a replacement so where do i wire it up to? As im new to all this

 

where is the wire cut? are you able to splice it back together or has a length been removed?

 

Wires cut to one horn, or both? If both, my guess is the wires were cut to silence horns that wouldn't stop blowing due to an upstream problem! You'll find out soon enough.

Cheers
DD

 

the horns are mounted under the plate the bonnet ( hood ) hinges mount to ,

the horns are controlled by some very fiddly parts that mount to the steering column by the ignition key

these spring clips are still available from Jaguar for only a few pounds sterling

you may well find that the spring clips have wiggled loose and just need tightening up onto the column mounts

BB

 

Heh - this happened to me once back in the day I had been out at a nightclub and met a hottie for the evening. She agreed to a nightcap and was suitably impressed with the Jag, UNTIL.... I turned the steering wheel and the (#^$ horn went off.

Every time I turned the wheel more than a few degrees the damn thing would blare until the steering wheel was centered. I grabbed the toolkit and snipped the wires to the horns. I know now that a contact in the steering wheel was the culprit, and it's a fairly common issue!

I don't remember the lady's name, or if we even hooked up - LOL - but I sure remember the XJS embarrassing me that night. Man...

Anyway, yeah - Doug is right.

 

If the most memorable part of the evening was the horn I'd say the hooked- up part didn't take place😉 sorry couldn't resist!

 

I am with the first response. Can you find where the wires are that were cut? just find where it ended and solder and heatshrink some more wire to the horn and then you will find out why it was cut to start with

 

Hi guys and thanks for all your help.

The original horns have been removed and a cheap snail type one in its place the entire wire has been removed and only about 2cm left at the actual claxon its self. I have brought some second hand original set of horns from ebay removed from and identical XJS. So any tips on installing them as im not very mechanical and would love to get the XJS back on the road

 

I am pretty sure the relay and whatnot from the horns is on the LH side of the car, so it is probably on that section of the wiring harness. If you look at the routing, the harness essentially comes up the LH fender and wraps around at the front all the way to the other side. The RH side does the same, but it wraps around at the radiator cowl.

So follow the harness on the LH side until you find a spot that should be for the horns. You may have to cut it open a bit to access the wires so you can solder it back together. There is honestly no reason to cut out the whole thing, so you may find that it was just tucked back somewhere, and you don't have to open the harness.

For a better idea, this is how the harness is routed through the car:
If you still can't find it, let us know and I will check my own car to see where you should be looking for the wires. I am just lazy and its dark out and I have to take off my car cover and eeeeehhhhhhhh.....



Here is the horn diagram, in case you really need it, it is dead simple though.

 

LMAO you're probably right Damn that 1st XJS was a pain in the ***.

On a side note, one of my good friends - also a car guy - maintains to this day that the XJS has the most refined dual tone horn he has ever heard.

 

As Doug stated, the wires were likely cut to prevent the horn from constantly blowing. This has happened to me a couple times. There is a long copper "finger" which runs from the bottom to the top inside the upper steering column. This finger is what electrically connects the horn button on your steering wheel to the clips at the bottom of the upper steering column. It impales a flimsy foam insulation ring, which holds the finger fairly centered within the column. This ring is prone to decay, and when it does, the lower mount (the only mount) for the finger is stressed, and eventually breaks loose, causing the finger to contact the metal sides of the steering column, shorting the horn circuit, and causing it to either blow constantly, or, to blow when you turn the steering wheel.

 

Hi again and thanks for all your help.

I have found some wires that have been cut (see pic) i wired the horn to them but still nothing so wether its the relay or mabye the actual horn its self? Any ideas thanks again

 

thats probably it....wtf is with the previous asshat that owned your car? I am so tired of hearing about how terrible the electrical systems are in british cars, but people do this stuff to them.

On that same fender, there is a fuse panel and a set of relays attached to it. The horn relay is the second from the front.
Is the relay in place? Is there anything wired to it?

 

I agree, they sound awesome! If I ever get an older car with a silly horn, my dad's old morris minor comes to mind, I will find some XJS horns to put in it.

 

Hi again guys
Sorry not updated you on the horn situation been busy with work.

I have replaced the relay and now want to cheak out theese springs in the collom does anyone have a picture of what they look like or what i should be cheaking? I would also like to ask advice on my idle speed, when i start her up it goes really high to about 20rpm then starts to loop until its warmed up then its ok. Someone said it may be the "aav"? What is this and is it easy to sort out?

Thanks again

 

it will easier to start a separate thread about that. When warming up the car should only do 1000-1500 or so and then idle down to 750. The AAV is an adjustment valve for air getting into the engine, it should be on the LH side near the water rail at the firewall. There is a screw/bolt head to adjust it.

I am not aware of any pictures of the horn springs, someone will have to describe it or hopefully have some of their own.

 

Hi thanks for the reply :-) just to confirm the bolt in the attached pic is wat i need to adjust?

 

yes.

I would also adjust the throttle linkages to make sure they are correct

 

Thanks again for all your help. A quick adjustment of the aav bolt and shes running sweet as a nut :-) will look in the collom later for the springs regarding the horn and will report back :-)

 

Hi again guys,
I have stripped the horn and cleaned it up connected it to the battery and it turns out its a siren novilty horn!! But anyway it doesnt work when connected to the Jag. Does anyone know where the horn relay is? Some of you have mentioned "springs" near the ignition key, i have looked but not really sure what it is im looking for. Can someone shed some light on it?